stark, peter parker

i. he showed off his blip beard to your aunt

peter parker was sitting next to his best friend, ned leeds, desperately trying to find the words to explain to his friend all that his girlfriend meant to him. dakota stark had been with peter for two years (well, more, if you counted the blip), and peter wanted to find a way to make the time up to her.

"i want to do something special for dakota." peter told ned, watching as his friend's brows furrowed in confusion. "kodie's been through so much these past few years, and she just deserves it. i haven't told her i love her yet," the boy explained, looking to ned, "and i want to know what you think i should do."

ned's eyes widened and he pointed to himself as if to say 'me?'. when peter nodded, ned let out a sigh. "you know her better than i do, peter. she probably doesn't want anything fancy."

"but that's the thing!" peter exclaimed. "she doesn't want anything, and i know she won't ask for anything, either. look, dude, kodie said the 'l' word before i did." ned just nodded, not really seeing the problem. "and i feel bad about it, because she's said it twice now. the first time, i.. well.. i died, and the second time i just sat there not knowing what to say like some idiot! i had to die before she could say it. i died, ned."

rolling his eyes, ned looked up at peter. "you did die, peter, and i think the best gift you can give her now is the fact that you're alive, you're well, and that you love her. ... you do love her, don't you?"

peter sat back in his chair, smiling like a little boy. "yeah, more than anything."

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

"when i blipped back to my apartment," aunt may told the audience at the homeless support building, "the family living there was very confused. the wife thought that i was a mistress, the grandma thought that i was a ghost... it was, it was really a mess." may laughed to herself before continuing. "thank you all for coming out to support those who have been displaced by the blip, and, of course, thanks to our very own spider-man!" the audience erupted into applause for peter, who was standing behind his aunt.

from the very back of the audience, dakota stark lightly clapped, showing her support for her boyfriend. peter, after may gestured him towards the microphone before her, stepped forward.

"thank you ms. parker, for having me." peter said, shuffling awkwardly on his feet. "and thank you you guys for having me." he awkwardly gave the audience a thumbs up, to which they applauded and cheered again.

"thank you, spider-man." may said in an attempt to save him from his awkwardness. "he'll be right back out to take photos and videos, thank you!"

dakota shook her head with a smile, getting up from her place leaning against the wall. she followed happy hogan, who led her backstage, which was a bit of a struggle given the giant piece of cardboard in his hands.. "what's that?" she asked, gesturing to it.

"a check." happy told her simply, leading her down the hallway.

the girl grinned cheekily. "ohhhhh, it's for your girlfriend." she bit her lip with a laugh as happy looked over as if to argue with her (which he couldn't, because she was kind of right). dakota opened the door backstage, holding it open for him. the first thing she saw was peter, in his iron suit that she and her father designed. "hey." she smiled as peter's mask faded away, revealing his face.

"hey." peter replied, instantly moving over to give dakota a hug, his arms wrapping around her waist. "what are you guys doing here?" he asked, smiling down at her and then looking over at happy.

"we bring gifts." the girl replied, gesturing to the check in happy's hands.

the man looked to peter for a moment, giving him a thin-lipped smile before turning back to his aunt. "this is from pepper potts, she's sorry she couldn't be here-" happy explained to the woman, holding the check up.

dakota zoned out of their conversation and focused on peter, who watched them with a furrowed brow. "they're cute, aren't they?" she asked, laughing at her boyfriend's now shocked expression. he hadn't realized that there was obviously something happening between happy and his aunt.

"spider-man," may addressed peter, "go shake hands."

peter nodded. "will do." as soon as may was outside, peter turned to happy and kodie, still extremely confused. "what just happened?"

"he showed off his blip beard to your aunt." dakota explained.

happy rolled his eyes at the girl, looking to peter. "heads up, nick fury's calling you."

peter, not understanding why the nick fury would call him, denied the call. peter had a school trip coming up, and he wanted a vacation, not another superhero duty. besides, he couldn't save the world if he was going to tell his girlfriend he loved her.